Trump, Putin tout reset in ties at summit

I think that the United States has been foolish.

The 45-minute press conference provided the capstone on a foreign trip that completely remakes American foreign policy, with the European Union now dubbed by the USA president as a foe and Russian Federation as a friend.

The only cause of discord he could name was the USA investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election. Trump seemed to return the favor by waiting until Putin had arrived at the palace before leaving his hotel.

Monday's meeting is being closely watched on both sides of the Atlantic, coming days after the US Justice Department indicted 12 Russian military intelligence officers for their role in hacking Democratic entities during the 2016 presidential campaign. In doing so, Trump contradicted his own intelligence officials, who remain confident that Russian Federation was indeed responsible for the hack of Democratic National Committee emails, regardless of whether anyone within the Trump campaign colluded in this effort.

At the joint press conference following Mr Trump and Mr Putin's two-hour closed-door meeting in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, Lemire bluntly asked the USA president whether he believed the Russian dictator over his own United States intelligence officials. During the press conference, Putin spoke first, and the first question went to a Russian reporter. "The damage inflicted by President Trump's naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is hard to calculate", McCain said in a blistering statement.

Sen. Orrin Hatch said he trusts the work of USA intelligence and law enforcement personnel who are sworn to protect the country from foreign and domestic enemies. Trump also said the Federal Bureau of Investigation needed to find Hillary Clinton's emails.

Trump faces bipartisan scepticism in Washington that his desire for warming ties is displacing concerns over Russia's annexation of Crimea and other destabilising actions.

"There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russian Federation, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals", he said, adding that there was "no question" Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election.

"Our relationship with Russian Federation has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of US foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!"

However, Mr Trump added that he thinks "that changed as of about four hours ago". The White House correspondent for the Associated Press became the hero we all needed when he boldly went where Mr Trump would not.

"There was no collusion", Trump said at a joint news conference with Putin.

The summit comes days after the U.S. indictment of 12 alleged Russian military intelligence agents for sophisticated hacking in the 2016 election. Trump's statements on Tuesday threatened that stance perhaps more than at any time since his defense last summer of Nazi sympathizers in Charlottesville during a dispute over Confederate statues.

But while Mr Putin came over as the seasoned professional, eager to present his country as an equivalent to the U.S. in terms of being a nuclear superpower; an energy provider; and a key actor in the Middle East, Mr Trump seemed more intent on castigating his opponents back home.

"What happened to Hillary Clinton's e-mails?" he said, responding to a question on whether he believes Putin over his own intelligence agencies.

Israel is deeply concerned about Iran's presence in Syria, where Iranian forces and proxies have been fighting on behalf of the Syrian government, which is also supported by Russian Federation. "This will bring peace to Golan Heights, and bring more peaceful relationship between Syria and Israel, and also to provide security of the state of Israel".

'We have 90% of the nuclear, and that's not a good thing, it's a bad thing.

The Russian leader said: "It's good that the gradual resolution of the problem of the Korean peninsula has begun".

Since Trump's inauguration, members of his party on Capitol Hill have stifled much of their criticism of the president to preserve their own electoral viability and their ability to maintain private channels of communication with him. "It sounds like it's utter nonsense", Putin said.

That attack on the alliance came on the heels of Trump's jarring appearance at a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Brussels, where he harshly criticised traditional allies over "delinquent" defence spending only to later confirm his commitment to the military alliance that has always been a bulwark against Russian aggression.